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Izanami no Jidō: Mother, Forgive Me...
The End is Nigh... New York's atmosphere had transformed from it's black and golden orange, to a depressing white and grey one. As if though the entire world had been covered in it, snow fell from the skies. It's massive towers were covered in it, the city streets were being cleaned from it all, civilians held umbrellas up to keep themselves shielded from it's cold sting. Tearing through the wintry skies were two VTOL aircraft, both moving at hasty speeds. Within one of them was a young woman with a blood mark in the center of her head, the rest of her body bruised and tattered. She looked as if though she had emerged from a nuclear crater, though what she went through could easily be described as worse... ...she had a child on the way, and she had no way of helping it if it came sooner than expected. All that was on her mind was the apprentice that she had lost. She could not fight the tears emerging from her eyes as she recalled her final moments with her... Within the other aircraft were two men, one with an elder appearance with red eyes and black hair, and a younger one with blue eyes and brown hair. They were previously wounded, but their captors healed them on behalf of their master. The younger man covered his face with his hands, slight tears emerging from his eyes as well. The young woman in the other craft was his wife, and she carried his child. He could not fight the anger and sorrow within him, knowing that he would never see his child in person. The older man, however, seemed to be more resolute. He was sitting in one of the seats nearer to the rear exit of the V-22 Osprey he was flying in. His arms were folded in his lap, and his eyes were closed. His daughter had been killed by his nemesis, who was the very same one who had taken them all prisoner. Apparently, they were going to witness the "destruction" of the world, as he had put it. All in all, it was a gloomy, depressing, and disappointing situation. He had promised his father that he would keep his fragment to the dying breath. He had failed. He had promised himself to bring his family back together. He had failed. But he was too tired of failure to care. It brought him nothing but weariness. So he simply sat there, silent and waiting patiently for his time to come. "...I'm sorry." The younger man said a couple of words through his breath, expressing his sorrow over the death of the man's daughter. "You have nothing to apologize for, Akisame." Haralson answered calmly, opening his eyes to look over at the other man. "You're not the one who killed Brina. So don't blame yourself for my kid's death." "No. No I should blame myself for her death. For everything. If I had never found out about all of this, and if I just stopped looking for you, then maybe we could have enjoyed our lives before the end came..." Akisame said, guilt riddled his face. So much to the point to where he could not even look at Haralson. That was something that Haralson could not take. Reaching over, he grabbed Akisame by the top of the head and jerked his face forcefully up. His eyes were fixed up in a stern glare. "Listen up, laddie." He growled, clearly annoyed with Akisame's moping. "If you and your lass hadn't met me, I would've never been able to overcome my own personal demons as I did. I'm not going to say it again. None of this is your fault. So stop acting like it is!" "...Yeah. I helped you." he said, his voice still low. "...but did I help the people of your hometown? Did I help the pilot back on the plane? Did I help the innocent people in the village? Did I help my wife and child? Did I help Bri..." He stopped himself before he could say more. He gently took Haralson's hand off of his head and layed his head back up against the window of the craft. Haralson closed his eyes, placing a palm to his face in frustration. "....you did what you could." He spoke, taking in a deep breath and sighing. His back was hunched over as he did this, his other arm resting in his lap. "No one can blame you if you were trying your absolute best to protect everyone. The only ones who will mock you for that are the ones that you see as enemies. No one else matters. Think about that before you decide that you want to die in such a pitiful, self-loathing manner." Akisame chuckled, shaking his head. "I'll be sure to tell myself that before I go to sleep at night." As he finished, the chopper landed on a large helipad that was fit for two craft. As they landed, an armed guard came up to the door, rifle ready to shoot either of them dead where they sat. "Out of the chopper. NOW!" With that, Akisame looked over to Haralson and nodded, as he left the craft for the guard. As he looked to his left, the other craft landed and a robed figure emerged from it, Soifon in tow. She looked over to Akisame and then to the figure. She was speaking to him and he looked down at her before looking back up at Akisame. He then took her and walked over to the young man with Soifon. "On behalf of the Prophet's whim, this woman has been granted permission to stay in the same cell as you." the figure said. She embraced Akisame, their hands still cuffed, kissing each other briefly before being nudged by a guard to move. "Well.... end of the line...." Haralson sighed heavily, stepping out of the thing and hopping out in his own cuffs. He had to admit, the reiatsu suppressor on the things were strong. Even he, with the strongest reiatsu out of the three of them, could not break them as thought he could. With his cuffed hands lowered in front of him, he could only look on as the couple kissed and were told that they could share a cell together. "What..." He drawled sarcastically, rolling his eyes at the guards. "Gonna stuff this old man in a cell by his lonesome? I thought your mothers taught you better than to treat your elders like this." He knew he was probably irritating the guards, but all they could really do was kick him around or shoot him. Their options were severely limited, and what options they could take did not matter to him. So he would settle for jeering them to his dying breath. He did have pride, after all. The guard simply shoved him on. "No talking." As they moved through the dark hallways, Soifon could smell death and suffering within the sealed jail cells, it made her sick. They arrived at their appropriate cell and the guard shoved Akisame into it, while simply nudging Soifon into it. Perhaps they knew of her condition? As they entered the white and empty cell, the door behind them was shut and their cuffs fell off, though their powers remained sealed by the specially designed room. "Ugh... you guards are boring...." Haralson huffed, but he simply started walking accordingly. As he passed by the couple's cell, he passed a glance towards Soifon and Akisame before looking forward once again, allowing himself to be led to his own cell. Nearly an hour had passed, and Soifon and her husband sat on the opposite ends of the room. He leaned up against the wall, his arm resting on his left knee. She sat up against the other wall, her knees curled up and wrapped by her arms. As he looked at her, Akisame began thinking about the child resting within her, what they would name it, what it would look like... "...So, what is it?" he said, his voice casual. She looked back up at him in confusion before realizing what he meant. "...Oh. Heh, it's..." She got up and walked over to him, then sitting down on her knees in front of his casual figure. "...It's a girl....just like you always wanted." she said with a warm smile. He smiled back to her. "Why did you wait until now?" She frowned and closed her eyes, looking downwards. "I...I wanted to keep it a surprise. I planned to tell you after the dinner party but...I was so mad at you, I thought I would wait for a while longer." Within the confines of his own cell, Haralson was sitting against the wall with his bent legs stretched out in front of him. He had his eyes closed, and he appeared to be sleeping. However, his voice said otherwise. "I let the Prophet defeat me and take away the only thing that could've been holding this world together. With one mistake, I put the fate of my life in my enemy's hands. Thanks to me, I have handed over the key needed to unlock the destruction of existence....you're not to blame, Akisame, because everything is my fault, and my fault only...." "Pathetic." Immediately, he jolted up out of surprise upon hearing that voice. "W-who's there?!" "A last will by me.... and you couldn't even do that right." He recognized it as his father's voice, scathing and disdainful in nature. "You are nothing but a complete and total failure rotting in your own waste. Look at what you've allowed yourself to become, Haralson. A man of 700 is moping like a child over his own failure...is this REALLY what I passed my knowledge to?" "N...no...dad...." Haralson's voice started to tremble, immediately taking on a horrified and apprehensive tone. His expression started to obtain more panic, more loss of his composure. "Please.... don't talk like that. I'm not dead yet, I can still--" "Still WHAT?!" ''The voice's snarl caused the man to flinch a bit. ''"Still beg for the piece back and then allow him to kill you? Maybe if you're lucky, he'll be nice and offer you the whole blade... right down your THROAT." It paused for a moment before speaking again. "I don't know why I even bothered wasting my time on the likes of you...." "N...no, you don't mean that--" "You are as worthless as my so-called apprentice, if not even moreso. I'm starting to wonder why I even dared to call you my son..." "Please, Dad, don't do this....I beg of you, calm down--" "As a matter of fact, I think I WILL stop calling you my son. Consider this my new last rites: die with a pitiful and agonized heart and discard yourself from my memory. You're pointless to me now." "Dad, don't do this. Don't leave me." "...." "Please... I've already lost my daughter, I don't want to lose you...." "...." "What's with your silence....? Please....talk to me... Dad--" "...." "Dad, please! Come back! Don't leave! I still need you!! Dad!!! DAD!!!! DADDY!!!!!" That was when the dam completely broke. WHAM! WHAM! WHAM! "LET ME OUT OF HERE!!!!" Haralson, completely losing face as well as his earlier bravado, began to slam his hands onto the door in a blind and crazed attempt to break free. It was not coordinated punches that he was using, nor was it even blind swings. If anything, he looked like a trapped animal attempting to break free from the cage. His eyes were wild, and a snarl was visible on his face as he continued to slam his hands on the door. All the while, he continued to scream. "LET ME OUT OF HERE!!!! I HATE THIS PLACE!!! DON'T LET ME DIE ALONE!!! PLEASE, SOMEONE!!! HELP ME!!! HELP ME LEAVE!!!! DON'T LEAVE ME ALONE!!! PLEASE!!! PLEASE!!!" CRACK! CRACK! CRACK! CRACK! After a few moments more, Haralson had only managed to shatter one thing - the bones within his hands. He had slammed them against the metal door only to have them bend, stretch, and eventually break into pieces. Blood was now dripping from the metal, covering his gashed and mangled knuckles. As the blood slumped to the floor, he slumped to his knees. His words were like a broken mantra. "Please...." "Please...." "Please...." All of a sudden, he could feel a light tap on his shoulder. As he turned his head around, a figure with black spikey hair and piercing yellow eyes grabbed him by the shoulder, turned him all the way around, and brutally punched him in his face. As he fell to the floor, the figure stood over him and then leaned down to where he could clearly be seen. "Hello...brother." That punch was enough to sap all strength completely from Haralson. He lay on his side, not even bothering to get back up or say anything for that matter. ---- Soifon had just finished her statement by the time Haralson started going mad. She turned to look in his direction, before looking back at Akisame with concern. "We need to..." she stopped herself. She realized that it would do none of them any good to try to talk him out of it. He probably wouldn't even hear them. All she could do was lower her head in pity. "...We need to give her a name." Akisame said, pretending to pick up from where she left off. She looked back up at him in confusion and surprise. Why should they even bother naming her if they were going to die shortly? She ultimatley gave a large exhale before giving in. "Okay...you first." ---- The figure then grabbed Haralson by his shirt collar with his left hand and picked him up with little effort. "Come on brother." he then punched Haralson again with his right fist. "What is my name? Tell me who I am, and I'll let you go." "Please...." Haralson's voice was a shadow of the power it once was. "De Soto... stop it...." De Soto then laughed as he dropped Haralson back to the ground. "HA! Looks like you were right old man. He does remember me after all." Then, another figure phased through the door, his hands behind his back, and his figure hunched over as always. "But of course De Soto, who could honestly forget you?" De Soto chuckled some more before looking back down at Haralson. "Heh, based on his condition, I could have sworn he'd forget who either of us were." He leaned over to where Haralson could see the other figure clearly. "You do remember the old man, don't you?" It just made Haralson want to shrivel up in a corner and die. With his broken fingers, he clutched his head and shut his eyes tightly. "Stop it....stop it now....!" He continued to plead, wanting to shut his environment out and leave himself alone. The elder figure walked over to Haralson and pulled out a menacing key-like sword, before pointing it at Haralson's head. "Boy. I didn't send you halfway around the country just for you to turn into a bloody savage! Now stand and face me with some backbone!" "WHY?!!!"' Abruptly, Haralson raised his head up, his wild eyes glaring at both his brother and father. "DON'T YOU GET IT, YOU STUPID OLD MAN?!" He screamed, his failure the only thing within his mind. "I FAILED! I LET THE PROPHET GET HIS HANDS ON THE HILT! THERE'S NOTHING TO STOP HIM NOW!!! WE'RE ALL GOING TO DIE, AND IT"S ALL. MY. FAULT!!!" That was something De Soto would not tolerate. With a powerful kick to the gut area, he shut Haralson's wild screaming up almost instantly. "Come on now." he said walking around Haralson. "What happened to the badass that killed me in the town huh?" ---- "No." Soifon still sat up with her knees, her arms crossed. She and Akisame were going over names for their child, though Akisame was thinking of all kinds of names that he thought Soifon would like, but none of them had gained her approval so far. "Hmm...AHA! I know! Yoruichi!" he said, comically excited. Soifon gave an annoyed chuckle. "Yoruichi-Fon? No way that just sounds weird." She intended on giving the child the Fon name, thus she wanted something that sounded matching to it. Akisame sighed, leaning back in a humerous thinking pose. He knew that they were going to die, but he wanted to enjoy these last moments with his wife the best he could. "What about Brina-Fon?" he suggested, his tone now serious. Her amused look almost immediatley became solemn. "No. No I don't want her to ever know about Brina." He looked back at her in a confused manner. "Why not?" She sighed. "Because she's going to ask where she got her name, and Brina told me to tell her nothing but the truth." She then looked down, recalling what Brina had said. "I don't want my daughter to think that Brina was a ruthless killer turned hero who saved us. She'll only think worse of her than she already does, so I don't want her to think of a reason to ask about her...for Brina's sake." ---- Haralson lay on his back, his eyes shut tightly and his body slightly sprawled out. "....you just told me...." He said, his voice showing just how much his mind had fragmented. "....he just told me.... that I wasn't worth calling son.... so why are you...." Charles looked confused at first, before realizing what was going on. "Oh I see. You have allowed the thought of failure to spread so far into your mind, that it is now playing with your senses." He sheathed his sword and paced around the room. De Soto leaned up against a wall with his arms crossed. "You think that you have failed me? How could you have failed me if the world has not ended yet? The blade has not been forged just yet, there is still a chance." he said. Haralson laughed bitterly. "....and what makes you think....that I can just leave this place so easily? I'm powerless. The moment the cell door opens, they're just going to kill me and toss aside my ragged body." He looked down at Haralson, slight scorn in his eyes. "Boy, how far from the McTavish bloodline have you fallen? If you really were my son, then you would not be so willing to accept defeat just because of your surroundings. You know that I would never have sent you on this quest if I did not think that you could do it." "Do not forget that my and Braeburn's situation was just as your own, Dad...." That familiar female voice caused Haralson's head to snap towards the opposite side... and his heart almost stopped at what what he saw. What was standing over him was none other than the familiar figure of Brina, her hands folded in front of her, and a serene look on her face (minus the smile). There was no sign of death on her, and she looked just as she did before she had been struck down by the Prophet. His pupils shrank in shock at the sight. "B...brina....?!" She crouched down to his level, her arms resting on her knees. "The McTavish family were always destined to oppose the evils of society, no matter what the cost was or no matter how strong our enemy was. I killed my mother in cold blood in the same manner that I killed others. Yet, I still continued to oppose the ones who ordered me to do it. Braeburn, even as we speak, has yet to be captured by them. That means he's still determined to resist, that he's still willing to fight. We do this because you taught us to do so." "As I had once taught you to do so." Charles added, his arms folded behind his back yet again. "And as I was designed to." De Soto stated, the insane smile still present in his face. "....you're right." Now there was no more resisting. Haralson slowly brought himself up to his knees, taking in a deep breath and trying to cool himself down. "I'm still breathing... he hasn't killed me yet... I still have a conscience...." He breathed. "So I still have the power to destroy him before he can complete his insane dream. But...." Slowly, he stood up, his eyes closed in slight frustration. "What do I do now...? How do I break free from this place....?" Brina remained silent, blinking a few times as she looked at her father with moderate curiosity. De Soto simply held his fingers up in a position to snap as he looked at Brina and Charles. "Heh. In three...two...one..." SNAP! Suddenley, a loud bashing noise could be heard in the cell next to him. "What the--" Haralson immediately spun around in the direction of the noise, a dumbfounded and shocked look on his face. He couldn't bring himself to say anything more, furrowing his eyebrows and tensing his body out of reflexive apprehension. Brina brought herself to chuckle a little, allowing herself to turn towards the noise and wait patiently. ---- "...It's beautiful." It was all Akisame could say. Soifon had finally come up with a name for their child, and it's beauty brought tears to both of their eyes. They sat up against each other, holding each other tightly as they passionatley kissed each other with love that would make even the most solemn of people smile. This was their last moments togather, and they planned on making it all count. She remembered how Akisame saved her from Ultharon's sword, how he comforted her after Yoruichi's coma, and how he managed to reveal a side of her that she had thought was long gone. While he thought of her elegant beauty and grace that had only increased since their first meeting, and how he had done all of this for her sake and her sake alone. Words could not describe the love radiating from the room. It was all ruined when two armed guards opened the door to their cell. "Alright break it up you two. The Prophet has ordered that both of you are to be executed at the same time." Dread swept over Akisame's face. He started to object, wanting them to take him first so that his wife may live longer. But he knew that it would be pointless, bad guys never change. He looked at her and nodded, to which she nodded back. As they got up, one of the guards emited a pained grunt. SLURCH! He felt as if though he had been stabbed in the back with a knife, but the pain was far too great to be a knife. He turned slowly to see who had injured him... "I'm afraid that's an order that you won't comply with." What he met was a polite smile with a serene, yet dangerous gaze from brown eyes. In one hand, she held the tactical knife that was buried within his back. In the other, she had an SO-45 Kidō Pistol that had been aimed and fired, shooting the other guard in the head and killing him instantly. So he had a much better fate than what the guard the girl had at knife-point was about to face. She focused - and a horrifying snap could be heard as the guard's back bent back like a mousetrap's lever snapping shut, the spine snapping in two and shattering into fragments. Under the force, the man's waist had split itself open, spilling blood from the crevice. The lifeless, mangled corpse fell to the cold metal of the floor. The killer flipped her knife around in her fingers in order to fling the blood off, those serene eyes looking over the two. "Did you forget about me already? Disappointing..." Soifon's face was in total shock. She started to think that she was in a dream, a horrible yet beautiful dream. Her apprentice, who had died in her arms, was now standing in front of her and her husband, saving them from an unjust fate. She could barely speak. "B...Brina?" was all she could manage. Behind the young Soul Reaper emerged a massive Vizard figure with shoulder length black hair. He was carrying two dead guards, both had their necks snapped, courtesy of him. He dropped one, and threw the other one towards the cell wall with enough force to break it down, sending the guard plummeting towards the bottom of the city. Soifon stood to her feet and slowly walked over to Brina. She looked into her eyes briefly, before gently wrapping her arms around her in a warm hug (ignoring the weapons in her hands), realizing that it was no dream. "I...I had thought that....I'd lost you again." As best as she could with her weapons in her hands, Brina wrapped her arms around Soifon and returned the hug. "You would have, if it wasn't for the convenient appearance of Mr. Watcher..." She admitted, smiling. "I was quite dangerously close to the edge before he found me partially buried in the snow. Thankfully, it didn't come to that...." The Watcher gave an annoyed sneer as he helped Akisame to his feet. "I told you; my name is Kafiezial. Stop calling me "Mr." Akisame stood up and placed his hand on Kafiezial's shoulder. "Glad you could make it in time." he said with a smile. Kafiezial did the same and turned to Soifon, who was still nervous of his presence. "Don't worry." he said. "Thanks to your husband here, I am no longer under the Prophet's control." he then pointed to the scar where his green gem used to be. "The gem was his method of controlling my mind. I am no longer under it's influence." Soifon at first looked skeptical, but she quickly accepted him. All she cared for was her daughter, and her apprentice. "But that's too long...!" After maintaining the hug for a few more moments, Brina gently pried herself from her former master's embrace and lowered her weapons to her side, all the meanwhile taking on a slightly whining tone. "Can't I call you by something shorter like "Kaffy"?" Kafiezial turned and gave her a comically annoyed look, before letting out a sigh. "Fine. Anything but "Mr." will do. I don't want to be associated with the Prophet in any way besided my blade in his gut." He then turned to Akisame. "Now as I recall, there was another one with you." Brina was quick to answer him. "While I was recovering from hypothermia, I managed to get in contact with another helper. He will be aiding us in our mission to eliminate the Prophet and relieve him of the blade of Izanami." She explained. "He'll see to Dad..." Kafiezial looked back at her in a comically ignored manner. "Not you, him!" he said pointing at Akisame. Soifon decided to cut in. "Haralson...may not be in the best mental shape right now." "....I figured as much." Twirling the pistol she had around in her fingers, Brina sheathed it within the holster at her lower back. Her eyes searched around the prison. "I'm surprised that you two did not suffer from the psychological effects that this cell gives off." She commented. "Every part of this complex smells of death, pain, and suffering. To be in such a small room like this for too long and isolated from others can cause even a strong-willed person to breakdown within the hour." Soifon simply smiled. "I guess we were too busy trying to give her a name." "Her--" Before Brina could ask who Soifon was referring to as "her", she stopped immediately. Of course she was referring to the baby, of all things! It surprised her that they were more concerned about what the child was named rather than the possibility that they could've died before she could be born. She couldn't help but admire how devoted they were to the unborn life. So she gave a return smile back and a knowing nod, making sure to meet her former master's eyes. BLAM! BLAM! Her eyes widened slightly as she heard the loud sounds of a high-caliber round going off twice in a row, along with two bodies dropping to the ground. "Ah, I suppose he's done on his end..." She said, turning on her heel and walking past the Watcher. "Kaffy-san... please keep watch over these two while I see how things are going on my assistant's end. Most likely, there won't be any imminent patrols coming along, but I want to make sure there are no surprises before we leave." Kafiezial simply sighed as she left the cell, scratching the back of his head. "THAT is going to take some getting used to." He then looked back at the couple. "Let's go find the other McTavish." ---- "....I get the feeling that something convenient just happened." Haralson said dryly, folding his arms across his chest and relaxing his body once more. The two gunshots had just happened to come right outside his door, followed by the thuds of bodies. They probably were executing other prisoners unfortunate enough to have been taken captive, or.... Maybe they decided to take the couple outside of his cell and kill them so he could hear them dying.... De Soto smirked and looked over to Charles. "Heh, told you i'd get it right." Charles looked back at Haralson with a solemn gaze. "Haralson, what you just heard was a second chance. Another opprotunity to finish what we ''started, and to save the ones you care about." Inwardly, Haralson breathed a sigh of relief at the revelation. ''"Thank God.... they're still alive...." As Brina moved over to join De Soto and Charles and stood in between them, Haralson looked at all three of them as he turned to face them. "All of you..." He said softly, his expression lightening a little out of apology. "This might be just some sort of hallucination or some dream I'm having at this minute.... but I thank you for coming to...." He stopped for a moment, chuckling lightly. "Knocking sense back into me." De Soto chuckled some, his face now more sane. "That's what I'm here for." He then gave Haralson a friendly smile as he slowly started to fade away. "Good luck...my brother." With that, he faded into a black cloud and then disappeared. "Remember what you taught us, Dad...." Brina said quietly, her own figure starting to fade from view. "We live to resist... and we will not stand for anything else...." She too disappeared from his sight, her presence leaving the last two McTavish members by themselves. Charles gave his son an expression of approval and nodded. "Know this Haralson; I will always be here when you need me. Even when you feel that you are all alone in this ever changing world, I will be there to guide you." "Yeah....I know...." Haralson muttered, placing a hand to his heart and lowering his head a little. "Guess I forgot that." He smiled weakly, somewhat embarrassed by his own manic behavior. Because Soifon and Akisame had not been too far from him, they probably heard his screams and believed that he was going insane. He probably were making them too worried for their own good.... His father's shade slowly began to fade away as he walked towards Haralson. He then extended his right hand, motioning Haralson to shake it. "You'll do me proud son. I know you will." Haralson needn't say anymore. Without hesitation, he reached out and grasped the other man's hand in order to shake it, only waiting until his father's apparition faded away completely in order to move away. It was the seal of the vow - he would continue to fight until he defeated the Prophet, until he avenged his daughter. This time, the Prophet would have to kill him if he wanted to stop him. This time, he would not break. SMASH! Suddenley, the door to his cell smashed open. Out of it's opening emerged the Vizard that he knew as the Watcher, but behind him emerged a smaller young woman with blue hair and a tattered outfit, and behind her emerged a tall young man with brown hair and a black outfit with cargo pants. "You ah...you doing alright there buddy?" the young man asked. It was a shock to Haralson's senses. The force of the door opening immediately caused Haralson to jerk around and shield himself from the smoke cloud that had resulted from whatever that the group had used on the cell door. He also had to crouch a little out of reflex, as he was clearly taken off-guard by the sudden barging into his cell. At the sound of the familiar voice, he slowly relaxed his stance and revealed a slightly annoyed expression. "Well, I might have lost a few screws here and there during my little "epiphanic prison" session, but otherwise I'm doing good." He drawled, fixing narrowed eyes onto the Watcher as soon as he laid eyes on him. "Mind telling me what the blue hell that masked freak sonuvabitch is doing with you?" The Vizard simply leaned back against the wall, letting his new friend explain. "You remember when he and I fought on that tower? Well, during that fight, I destroyed the green them that was on his chest." He then turned to point at the burn mark on the figure's pectoral area. "After I did that, I realized that the gem was the Prophet's method of controlling him. Destroying it released him from his control. He's with us now." The Vizard looked at Haralson and simply nodded, acknowledging him as an ally, regardless of whether Haralson did the same. "....yeah, all right." Haralson snorted, clearly not believing the story. However, he decided to let it go for now. It wasn't exactly the time to start an argument. "So I take it your supposed ally also helped bust you out of your own cells?" Soifon crossed her arms and smiled. "Well...it wasn't just ''him." Kafiezial added to the statement. "I wasn't the one who broke them out..." he then turned to where Haralson could see clearly in the hallway. "...she was." Haralson cocked an eyebrow, looked over in the direction of the hallway - and froze, his calm demeanor fading into complete and utter shock. Slowly, the figure of Brina was walking towards him, her blood-stained katana dripping with the liquid, and she had it out by her side as she made her way towards the group. Bringing up the rear, however, was another youth that looked only slightly younger than her. Unlike the uniform-wearing female, the black-haired was wearing a more casual attire consisting of a red jacket, black pants, sneakers, and a unique-looking hat. One of his hands was in his pocket, but the other sported a somewhat large pistol in his hand that was lowered and pointed to the ground as he walked beside her. Haralson's thoughts were not on the boy, but the girl that stood before him... alive.... and seemingly unharmed. Subconsciously, he made his way past the group in order to make himself known to her. In response, she stopped, her eyes locking with his and a smile crossing her face. "I see you're still standing strong. From what Akisame-san had mentioned... I thought you were going to do yourself in." That broke his surprised look and replaced it with his weary-yet-happy expression. "Heh... you know I won't stay out of the running for long, lassie. I'm glad to see you survived..." As the two were speaking, the unknown male that had accompanied stood a ways off from them, remaining silent and instead opting to inspect the large sidearm that he was carrying. If anything, it created for a slightly unnerving appearance. His expression was next to blank, but every movement he made was expressive. It was a somewhat contrasting aura to the serene and mirthful Brina. Akisame looked over towards the newcomer, noting his strange handgun. He started to introduce himself, but he declined, thinking that the man was the quiet type and that introductions wouldn't be his strong point. He simply watched on as Haralson and Brina were reunited. Soifon looked over to Kafiezial and gave him a thankful bow, believing that she owed him that much. "Thank you, Kafiezial. For saving my apprentice." The Vizard kept his pose and nodded towards her. "Of course. I am always willing to help my allies." "So, then...." Brina said, flicking the blood from her katana before sheathing it. "Now that we're all back together, what would be the best way to proceed from here?" Her accomplice's ears perked up slightly, and he lifted his head towards the group in order to listen in. Kafiezial got up from his leaning position and addressed the group. "Our best option would be to head for the top of the tower. By now, the Prophet has begun to assemble the blade, so every minute we have counts." He then made his way out into the hall, looking down both ends before pointing towards the end that was opposite to the helipad. "There is an elevator at the end of this hallway as well as two stair cases. They go through different sections of the building. We should split up into two groups to cover more ground and decrease the chances of being caught. I doubt that we will anyway, but we can never be too sure." "Oh.... I'm sorry, I forgot about these. Here are your weapons." It was here that Haralson saw the collection of swords that was in the young man's arm when he spoke up - their Zanpakuto. The youth walked over to the formerly imprisoned trio, sheathing his pistol in order to hold the collection of weapons in order for them to take. As Haralson himself took his own, he gave a nod of appreciation towards the boy. "Thanks, laddie!" In response, the male gave a silent nod. "I can work with that...." Brina commented, folding her arms across her chest as she looked over at the Visored. "Who's going with whom?" Akisame gently took his weapon from the man and gave him a friendly smile in return. Soifon did the same and looked at Akisame, who looked at her and then back to the group. "Kafiezial, Soifon and I will take the right stair case." Haralson cocked an eyebrow, putting on a slight smirk. "What, you're not going to start doing the vertical tango once you're out of eyesight, are you?" He drawled with clear sarcasm. To his surprise (although he didn't allow himself to show it much), the youth's eyes widened briefly for a moment before he started snickering at the choice of words, a rather humored look on his face. Instinctively, he placed a hand to his mouth in a futile attempt not to attract attention towards him. When it was clear that wasn't working, he simply turned his head away and continue to laugh quietly. It was clear that they weren't dealing with a full-out stoic here. Soifon looked back at him in a comically infuriated yet embarrased matter, her cheeks blushing, an anime nerve appearing on the left side of her forehead. "Hey! This is important! Focus on something besides your pervervial instincts you old sack of bones!" Akisame looked back at him in a humored look, before looking at the youth in a friendly manner. "He's full of shit. Trust me." The youth managed to suppress his laughter in order to look over at the man. However, he only allowed himself to nod in response. Haralson folded his arms across his chest, choosing to ignore the insults directed his way (although his eye ''did twitch a little) and direct a comically pointed glare towards the short woman. "All right, all right. You did fall into that one, you know...." Popping out of his comical expression and back into his casual and almost indifferent one, he continued to speak. "So that leaves me, Mr. Mask, my lassie, and her little friend. A bit of overkill on our side, but I'm not complaining..." "Actually, Dad, Kaffy-san's going with them." Brina piped in to correct her father. "He is?" The intervention made Haralson stop and blink for a few times with a slightly dumbfounded expression. "Oh. Never mind what I said earlier, then." Category:Fanfiction Category:Roleplay Category:Bleach: The Children of Izanami